Sensory transduction of head velocity and acceleration in the toadfish horizontal semicircular canal

1. Sinusoidal mechanical indentation of the long-and-slender limb of the horizontal semicircular canal and/or utricle was used to produce adequate stimulation of the labyrinth. Indentation of the canal increased, while indentation of the utricle decreased the afferent discharge rate. This follows because indentation of the canal and utricle produce oppositely directed mechanical stimuli as defined by endolymph flow, transcupular pressure, and cupular deflection. Simultaneous in-phase indentations of both the canal and utricle, with amplitudes adjusted to produce equal (but opposite) magnitudes of afferent response modulation, generate destructive interaction that minimizes the afferent modulation, whereas sinusoidal indentation 180 degrees out-of-phase generates constructive interaction that maximizes the afferent modulation. This observation correlates directly with analysis of the labyrinthine elasto-hydrodynamics which predicts that balanced in-phase indentations minimize macromechanical endolymph flow through the ampullary cross section and maximize the dilatational pressure within the ampulla acting equally on both sides of the cupula and across the labyrinthine wall. 2. Two groups of afferents are identified according to their response to balanced sinusoidal indentation of the canal limb and the utricle. In one group there is complete destructive interaction and the afferent response can be effectively nulled by adjusting the relative amplitude and phase of the two stimuli. In the second group a residual afferent response remains that cannot be nulled. The residual is described in the model as unit-specific sensitivity to dilatational pressure acting equally on both sides of the cupula.